Author: Business News Asia

Ayala Land Inc (PSE:ALI) has acquired an ownership stake in online fashion platform Zalora Philippines (Zalora), the country’s largest online fashion destination. Ayala Land joined Ayala Corporation, BPI Capital Corporation, and Kickstart Ventures, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Globe Telecom Inc in signing an investment agreement to acquire stakes in BF Jade E-Service Philippines, the owner and operator of Zalora Philippines. In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Ayala Land Inc’s Senior Vice President Jaime Ysmael said the investment forms part of ALI’s strategy to capture the growing opportunities in e-commerce amid a robust domestic consumer market and an increasingly…

JAPAN – Yamaha Corporation (Yamaha) is planning to establish a manufacturing subsidiary in Indonesia, PT. Yamaha Musical Products Asia (YMPA), and construct a new factory in that country. Yamaha’s board has also approved an increase in the capital of its subsidiary in India, Yamaha Music India Pvt. Ltd. (YMI), and the construction of a new factory. The construction of these two new factories reflects Yamaha’s intention to respond to rising demand for musical instruments and audio equipment as a consequence of expansion, primarily in the middle income classes, in the emerging countries as well as Yamaha’s aim to further expand…

The World Bank said that a number of factors, including policy uncertainty, will hit global trade growth this year, following a weak trade growth in 2016. A policy paper released by the World Bank showed that policy uncertainty negatively impacted trade in Europe and the United States last year. Globally, the World Bank found that the increase in uncertainty may have reduced trade growth by about 0.6 percentage points in 2016. The paper’s authors, World Bank economists Cristina Constantinescu, Aaditya Mattoo, and Michele Ruta, said policy uncertainty could force firms to postpone investment and export decisions and consumers could cut…

South Korea stocks were mixed Wednesday after shares jumped to a near 20-month high Tuesday. Here are the top gainers on KOSDAQ Wednesday. Simmtech Holdings (KOSDAQ:036710) topped the chart with a 19.26% gain as of 1 pm (Seoul time) to trade at KRW3,700 a share. The Korea-based company engaged in the manufacture of printed circuit boards (PCBs) saw a total of 4.36 million shares exchanging hands in today’s trade. Sewoo Global (KRX:013000)’s stock was up 13.98% to trade at KRW2,690 a share. A total of 14.1 million shares exchanged hands. Sewoo is a Korea-based company mainly engaged in the wholesale…

Japanese electronics giant Toshiba Corp is reportedly selling its stake in a medical equipment leasing firm Toshiba Medical Finance Co to Canon Inc for JPY31.4 billion (US$277 million). The announcement followed reports that the Japanese multinational conglomerate is eyeing to generate at least JPY1 trillion from the sale of its stake in its memory chip business. The Japanese conglomerate had earlier decided not to sell any stake in its chip business before the 31 March end of the current business year, in a move that makes it certain the company will have a negative net worth at the year’s end.…

New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)-listed Manulife Financial Corportion (NYSE:MFC) announced that it has priced a public offering in the United States of US$750 million aggregate principal amount of 4.061% subordinated notes due 2032 (the “Notes”) at a public offering price of 100%. Here are the quick facts about Manulife Financial’s subordinated notes: The notes will be issued on 24 February 2017 The notes are anticipated to qualify as Tier 2 regulatory capital of the Company. The Notes are expected to be issued on February 24, 2017 and will bear interest at the rate of 4.061% per year for the period…

Hang Seng Bank (HKG:0011), a Hong Kong-based banking and financial services firm, returned solid results for 2016 amidst a challenging operating conditions, the company said in a disclosure to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The bank said operating profit excluding loan impairment charges and other credit risk provisions was down 1% to HKD20.347 billion due mainly to a reduction in wealth management income and subdued investment environment. Operating profit was HKD19.034 billion, down 2% compared with 2015, reflecting higher loan impairment charges. The HKD10.636 billion gain on the partial disposal of Industrial Bank in 2015 saw profit attributable to shareholders…

CIMIC Group Limited (ASX:CIM), the world’s largest contract miner, announced that its subsidiary, UGL Limited, has been awarded a five-year maintenance services contract by Esso Australia (Esso). Under the scope of contract, UGL will provide routine maintenance, shutdown and minor modification project services for Esso’s onshore oil and gas processing plants at Longford, Long Island Point fractionation plant and Barry Beach Marine Terminal; offshore oil and gas producing platforms located in the Bass Strait, Victoria; and its crude oil, LPG and gas pipelines. UGL Limited, formerly known as United Group Limited is an engineering company. The company provides construction, maintenance…

Toshiba, the Japanese multinational conglomerate, is eyeing to generate at least JPY1 trillion (USD8.8 billion) from the sale of its stake in its memory chip business, sources revealed. The report immediately caused Toshiba’s stock (TYO:6502) to plunge 1.02% in today’s trading at the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Toshiba’s share was trading at 184.50 a share at noon, down 1.90 from Monday’s trading. The transaction, which Toshiba aims to complete by March 2018, will likely result in the company giving up majority stake over the memory chip business. Sources said the company seeks to restart the sale process as soon as possible…

Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE)-listed SM Prime Holdings, Inc. (SM Prime), the Philippines’ leading integrated property company, registered a recurring net income growth of 14% in 2016 to PHP23.8 billion from PHP20.9 billion last year. Consolidated revenues grew 12% to PHP79.8 billion in 2016 from PHP71.5 billion in 2015. Overall operating income improved by 12% to PHP35.3 billion in 2016 from PHP31.4 billion the prior year. Growth was mostly driven by the continued expansion of its malls as well as the strong sales take-up of housing units. “SM Prime sustained its overall performance in 2016 on the account of focusing more…

Stocks listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) were mixed on Monday’s trading but five ASX stocks were trending – Bluescope, Resolute Mining, Treasury Wine Estates, G8 Education Limited, and APN Outdoor Group. Bluescope (ASX:BSL) ended Monday’s trading as top gainer with shares trading 4.02% higher at $12.68 a piece. Bluecope’s stock traded higher after the company announced a $359.1 million net profit after tax for 1H 2017, a $159 million increase from the previous year. With Bluescope’s sound cash flow position, the company’s board has approved the payment of a fully franked interim dividend of 4 cents per share.…

Philippine Stock Exchange-listed property developer Filinvest Land Inc has officially announced that it has decided to exercise its option to rescind its purchase of a 19.2-hectare property in Cebu City’s South Road Properties (SRP). Filinvest won the property through a public bidding in June 2015, when Michael Rama was Cebu City Mayor. In a statement to the PSE, Filinvest said the City of Cebu has “failed to comply with several covenants, undertakings, and obligations” that it was required to fulfill more than a year ago. Filinvest also said that it has given Cebu City ample extensions but “it does not…

Labor officials of member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting in Davao City, the Philippines, are optimistic that the ASEAN Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers (ACMW) will be implemented soon. “A decade after signing the declaration, we hope to bring it closer into full circle here in Davao and also fulfill the April 2017 Leaders Summit deadline for the development of the Instrument to implement it,” said Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Silvestre Bello III in his opening statement at the ASEAN Ministers’ Retreat in Davao City…

Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE)-listed Global Ferronickel Holdings Inc (FNI) announced today that its subsidiary, Platinum Group Metals Corporation (PGMC), has been awarded an annual contract to supply 1 million wet metric tons (WMT) to Baosteel Resources International Co Ltd (Baosteel Resources) at prevailing market price. PGMC has been supplying Baosteel Resources with high to medium grade saprolite ore and medium to low grade limonite ore since 2014. Early this year, PGMC had also signed supply agreements for the delivery of up to 3 million WMT. The award of Baosteel Resources increases PGMC’s take-up to 4 million WMT – about 70…

Malaysian police trailing the whereabouts of the four North Korean suspects in the murder of Kim Jon Nam, the elder half-brother of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un, said the suspects have already fled Malaysia. In a press conference, Malaysia’s Deputy Inspector-General of Police Noor Rashid Ibrahim said investigators were seeking four more suspects from North Korea, whom the believed had fled the country on the same day of the killing. The Malaysian police have arrested four suspects, the latest being a 47-year-old an from North Korea, who worked as an IT engineer at a Kuala Lumpur-based company. It is…

Mongolia’s economy has been hit hard by a sharp decline in commodity prices and a slump in foreign direct investment and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is coming in to help. In a statement, the IMF said it and other partners have agreed to extend more than USD5 billion in loan package to help Mongolia bring back its economy on track. The terms of the loan stated that the IMF will provide USD440 million over three years while partners Asian Development Bank, World Bank, Japan and South Korea have agreed to provide up to USD3 billion. The IMF statement added…

Blue chips at the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) ended the week with a lackluster performance, with only six of the 30 indexed stocks posting gains Friday. Semirara Mining and Power Corporation (PSE:SCC) led gainers among blue chips on Friday with a 1.11% increase to ₱137 a share. Semirara bucked the trend of declining mining stocks caused by the government’s order to close non-compliant firms. BDO Unibank, Inc (PSE:BDO) also gained 1.04% on Friday to end the week at ₱116.2 a share. The bank is engaged in a legal battle against the Cebu City government, which ordered the closure of one…

Hong Kong’s Vitasoy Group has sealed a joint venture deal with Universal Robina (PSE:URC) in the Philippines, recognizing the Philippines’ potential and its longterm growth prospects as a market for high-quality, nutritious and sustainable food and beverage products. “We see a perfect fit in this joint venture, as both URC and Vitasoy are companies that strive to promote both consumer well-being and sustainable nutrition,” said URC’s President and CEO Lance Y. Gokongwei. He added, “Vitasoy is an innovative company, a reliable employer and a responsible corporate citizen dedicated to providing food and beverage that are compatible with a healthy lifestyle…

In what can be considered as a response to President Donald Trump’s protectionist and anti-outsourcing policies, global technology services and outsourcing firm Accenture said it will hire 15,000 people in the United States. The 15,000 jobs that Accenture will create in the US will raise the company’s total US workforce by 30% to more than 65,000 in the next three years. The company, headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, said it will invest up to US$1.4 billion to train its employees. It also revealed plans to open 10 innovation centers in some cities in the US. READ ALSO: Teleserve Is Now Boomsourcing…

ILOILO CITY, Philippines – Megaworld, the country’s largest office developer and lessor, is set to open two new office towers in Iloilo City, doubling its office space inventory in Iloilo Business Park, as demand for office spaces inside the township continue to grow in the last three years. From the current 45,000 square meters of office inventory in four office towers (One Global, Two Global, One Techno Place and Richmonde Tower), which has already been leased out, the company is expected to reach 100,000 square meters of office spaces in the township by 2020. This will cater to around 40,000…